Cultivation by Trial and Error

80: Chapter 80 Li Ying’s Request 80: Chapter 80 Li Ying’s Request Qingshui Garden was the name of a restaurant.

Leaving Wuyang Town Middle School, it took Chen Hai and his friends just about six or seven minutes to arrive at their destination.

The restaurant was refurbished from an old residential building.

The ground floor served as the hall, and the second floor was divided into private rooms with wooden panels.

It was hard to remember when exactly private rooms had become fashionable.

Qingshui Garden had caught on with the trend.

Before the private rooms were added, the business here was just average.

Once the restaurant owner introduced these private rooms, the business improved significantly.

After inquiring with the restaurant owner, Chen Hai, Hu Zhiyong, and the others headed straight for the private room where Li Ying and Sun Fang were.

“Brother Hai…”

Li Ying was naturally cheerful.

Seeing Chen Hai, she was the first to approach and greeted him.

“People say women change a lot when they grow up, Li Ying.

How come you seem much prettier after just a few days?”

Chen Hai said with a smile, as a form of polite conversation.

Although he was feeling downcast due to the issues with his college entrance exam scores, having nowhere to vent his frustration.

However, his predicament had nothing to do with Li Ying, Hu Zhiyong, and the others.

Since they had kindly invited him to dine, Chen Hai naturally wouldn’t show any negative emotions in front of them.

“Really?

I also feel that I’ve become quite a bit prettier recently!”

“It’s just a pity that some people only have eyes for Lan.

To him, I’m just someone who gets overlooked!”

Li Ying laughed and joked with Chen Hai.

Honestly, Chen Hai had always been just average in her memory.

But ever since the Shuang State mahjong incident, her impression of Chen Hai had changed considerably.

Even saying she had a bit of a crush on Chen Hai wouldn’t be an overstatement.

“By the way, Brother Hai, where’s Lin Lan?”

“I haven’t seen her since we returned from Shuang State.

Don’t tell me you’ve hidden her away in a golden house?”

Li Ying asked again, chuckling behind her hand.

“Li Ying, don’t you know about Lin Lan’s biological parents?”

“The day after we got back from Shuang State, she went to Yuedong.

From now on, she should be called Yang Huilan, not Lin Lan.” Chen Hai shrugged as he explained.

Thinking about it, he still had some regrets.

That day in the hotel, if he had been braver, turned into a beast and didn’t fall asleep so quickly, perhaps his relationship with Lin Lan might have ended differently.

“I’ve heard a bit about Lan’s family background.”

“You two had just gotten together, right?

And now she’s left like this, so what will happen between you two?”

Li Ying was surprised.

She wouldn’t have known about Lin Lan going to Yuedong if it weren’t for Chen Hai mentioning it.

“Relationships can’t be forced.

What happens between her and me in the future?

We’ll leave it to fate.”

Chen Hai sighed in response.

The two were chatting away when Sun Fang, accompanying Li Ying, stuck by Hu Zhiyong as soon as he came in.

The class president seemed to have a way with girls.

His flirtatious and passionate demeanor with Sun Fang suggested that he wouldn’t be displaying such emotions if he hadn’t managed a home run.

As for Zhang Yong and Zhang Zhi, they were busy selecting dishes from the menu.

Everyone who had experienced the mahjong incident, except for Lin Lan and another girl, Yang Hua, was practically in this room.

Lin Lan had left for Yuedong, and as for Yang Hua, her relationship with Zhang Yong most likely ended due to his cowardly conduct.

“Chen Hai, you must have some insights into exorcism, right?”

Li Ying, the girl, always had a good EQ.

Since she knew Lin Lan had gone a thousand miles away, she certainly wouldn’t keep using her to tease Chen Hai.

Deliberately switching topics, she looked at Chen Hai and asked,

“I know a thing or two about exorcism, Geomancy, and divination!” said Brother Hai with slight familiarity.

“Bringing this up all of a sudden, why?

Li Ying, do you have a need in this area?”

Chen Hai nodded with a smile and responded.

“I really don’t want to encounter those bizarre supernatural things.

That last incident in Shuang State still leaves me anxious to this day!”

“Just thinking about that old lady figure formed from the mist makes my legs go weak, and I dare not go out alone at night!”

Li Ying pouted and muttered.

After a pause, she continued, “I asked if you knew about exorcism because recently there have been some disturbances at my grandmother’s place!”

“She’s already in her seventies and for the past half month, she keeps saying that in the middle of the night, a strange person wearing a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat, whose face she cannot see, has been staring at her by her bed!”

“She was so scared by this that she’s been sleeping with the lights on every night, completely unable to sleep!”

“When she stayed at our house for a few nights, there was nothing amiss, everything was peaceful, but as soon as she went back to her place, it would happen again.”

“She first placed coins under her pillow, then switched to scissors, and now, the scissors have turned into a kitchen knife.”

“But at night, as soon as she falls asleep, she is still frightened awake by that person in the straw raincoat.”

…

Li Ying roughly told Chen Hai about her grandmother’s situation.

Chen Hai listened without much concern, but as Li Ying talked about these things, she herself began to feel a tingling on her scalp and shivered repeatedly.

“Did your grandmother say that the stranger just stared at her without making any other moves?” Chen Hai asked thoughtfully after a slight frown.

“Yes, that’s what she said!”

“The stranger can only be seen by her.

My uncle watched over her room for several nights.”

“But when my grandmother woke up scared, my uncle couldn’t see anything at all.”

Li Ying nodded and replied.

“Your grandmother is old, which makes her more susceptible to seeing things that ordinary people cannot.”

“However, I suspect her situation may be caused by a promise she made to some being that she failed to keep!”

“Resolving this matter shouldn’t be difficult.

Some reputable witches and religious con men in folk practices should be able to break the connection between that strange person and your grandmother.”

“As soon as your grandmother can neither hear nor see the stranger, he will naturally cease to exist.”

After pondering for a moment with closed eyes, Chen Hai spoke.

“Who knows who else can be reliable.

Why don’t you, Chen Hai, take on this matter?”

“As long as you are able to solve it, don’t worry about the compensation.

My grandmother will definitely give you a big red envelope!”

Li Ying stole a glance at Chen Hai, probing with her request.

“Me?

Better not.”

“In the eyes of others, at my age, I’m just a young kid.

If I really took on this task and went to your grandmother’s house, I would inevitably be met with skepticism.”

“Let alone not making any money, if I came back with just frustration, that would be a real loss!”

“Besides, I have my own matters to attend to these next few days and really don’t have the time to spare!”

Chen Hai said, declining with a smile.

Right now, his mind was on his exam scores.

He was even considering visiting the county education bureau tomorrow.

The high school examination results should be distributed from there to various schools; perhaps he could learn something there!